Tennis Playing Princess: A Frog Prince Retelling
by Gigi the Dancer
Summary: The Princess is a tennis player, the golden ball is a tennis ball and the Frog Prince is a body guard scholar who helps her through the tough time of assassination attempts and elite training.


**Once upon a time...**

In a beautiful and happy land with endless vineyards and deep green forests, there lived a young Princess who loved to play tennis. She was playing a match when her opponent, the Grand Duke's daughter had to go and attend a dress fitting which they had forgotten about when they scheduled the match.

So the Princess decided to stay and practice her serve; hitting against a smooth wall. She was getting good at getting the spin, down when the ball bounced back at her and she missed it. The ball bounced

and bounced and bounced and bounced-- down the steps that led from the tennis courts and into the large pool. The pool hadn't been used for swimming in a long time and someone had been keeping tadpoles in it for there were large green frogs, hopping about.

"Oh I want my tennis ball back!" she moaned realizing that it was their last fresh ball. She stared longing into the murky water, in which the neon yellow mocked her.

"Argh!" she sneered at the yellow glow. And she smacked the water with her racket. But she was slightly off balance and suddenly was falling into the icky green water. Her thoughts were along the lines of "I just got this new white tennis outfit."But suddenly large and slightly cold hands gripped her waist. And yanked her back cushioning her fall on a slightly squishy chest.

"I gotcha." he said smiling at her. His deep brown eyes twinkled.

"Thank You!" gasped the Princess holding onto her racket. The man removed his cold hands from her waist. She rolled off top of the man who was slightly over dressed for the summer day, in slacks and a green sweater.

"No thank you dear girl. You're so beautiful it was just a privilege to save you." he smiled revealing a wide mouth full of bright white teeth.

'Who are you?" she asked as she stood up.

'Me? Why I am the royal food taster."

"Really? I had no idea we had one."

"Oh yes. I was hired for a plot on the Princess's life. I suppose you're the Princess?"

"Well yes I am. I had no idea that someone wanted to kill me."

"Oh yes. It is about a plot to off you as competition in the Royal Championship Tournament for the bright Bronze Cup."

"Oh. That's too bad. Thank you for saving me, I certainly would have hated treading the water in that pond."

"Especially as you probably couldn't get out," pointed out the man. She followed his gaze and realized that the ladder for the pool did not reach into the lowered water level of the pool/pond.

That night at dinner as she tried to explain the bruises on her hips to her mother who had been spying on her in the bath the Royal Taster showed up. This time he was dressed in the Royal Green livery and sat down next to the Princess as if he belonged at her elbow.

He drank from her cup and her plate before she did, chomping loudly on the food causing the Queen and the Princess to be slightly disgusted.

As the dinner wound down the taster with his cold hands clasping her own, helped her out of her chair, and followed her out of the dining hall and up stairs. When she turned to go down the hallway into the royal princess' corridor he followed her. She turned around quite quickly asking him what he was doing and why was he being so fresh following her down to her bedroom.

She brandished her tennis racket threateningly.

"Your father said I would share your bedroom until you were safe and the Royal Tournament was over."

She scoffed. "My father? You must be crazy. My father would never allow a man to sleep in the same wing of the house let alone my bedroom." 

"Well, Pardon me, Princess but _that _ is what he ordered. He wants you to be safe you know."

'I suppose. Well then after you I guess." She bowed to him extending her tennis racket pointing him toward her room. She followed after the young man admiring the way the green velvet clung to his muscualr arms and the way the breeches clung to his very nice butt.

She watched as he carefully opened the door as if expecting assassins ready to leap out at him. He then allowed her inside after carefully inspecting the room. She proceeded to ignore him as she polished and cleaned her tennis racket and settled it in it's case along with her other rackets. She then settled into her nightly ritual. She undressed quickly behind the ornate wooden screen in the corner of her room. The maid came in to light her fire and take away her dirty clothes. She settled down with her small writing table on her bed and proceeded to try to draft a letter to her friend who lived in the country. But she decided the croaking of the frogs in the garden and in the pool were getting to her and she went to shut the window.

As she tried to latch the heavy windows she fell off the stool she kept for that reason and the again the cold hands of the Tats er held her upright.

She felt a shcok run through her. His large hands holding her tightly against his warm body.

'Err.." She blsuhed and backed up .


End file.
